An artwork of Nigeria that people signed with their thumbs

In Garki, Abuja, there is an artwork of Nigeria made from prominent fabrics of the country's six geopolitical zones, covered in thumbprints. Each print was left by a community member as a symbolic commitment to participate in elections. The project is Thumbprints of Democracy, and Ruth Ozibe Enyia made it with her team, Vigdis Picasso.

It began in a lab. Earlier this year she took part in a Civic and Political Organizing Lab for Young Creatives, organised by Yiaga Africa and The Open Society Foundation. "During the lab, we were challenged to think about how creativity could be used to strengthen democracy and civic participation," she says. "That's where Thumbprints of Democracy was born."

“I believe our stories are not just reflections of where we come from; they are tools for shaping where we are going and leadership begins when we choose to use our voices to create change where we are.”

Ruth Ozibe Enyia

Her team had become concerned, she says, by how little attention local government elections receive in Nigeria, "despite the fact that they often have the most direct impact on people's everyday lives." "We wanted to find a way to make conversations about democracy feel less distant and more human," she says. They paired the artwork with theatre, dialogue and civic education. The artwork is now permanently installed in Garki.

"What surprised us was how many people wanted to participate," she says. "The thumb-printing lasted much longer than we planned because people, even children, were genuinely curious and wanted to be part of something." The project made her realise, she says, that "people are not necessarily apathetic about democracy; sometimes they simply need to feel included in it."

She has since been featured on live television, on Rapid tv, she says, to represent her team and speak on the role of art in civic engagement. The team is open to running the project in more communities and is looking for the right sponsorship and partnership. In the meantime they took the conversation online and launched a campaign called SHOW UP. VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE, which encourages young people "to show up and be more active citizens and to learn to exercise their civic responsibility," she says.

She cares, she says, because "democracy shouldn't only live in policy documents or on election day but in the feeling that your voice matters".